Sam
by montee916
Summary: What if it was Charles Carmichael that came looking for Sam Bartowski? Somewhat AU
1. Chapter 1

**I freely admit to being an uber-Chuck mark, and even tho it's been some time since I wrote anything, this one wouldn't leave me alone. Most, if not all, of the familiar faces will be showing up, but perhaps not where you'd expect or with the connections to each other that you're used to. As for how long this will go for. I really can't say at this stage. I have enough ideas to cover the time period covered by the pilot episode which should be about 4-5 chapters or so, but anything beyond that is up to the Will of the Bunny. As always, no claim of ownership on my part is being made, just wanted to play in Chuck's sandbox for a bit and maybe kick over a few castles. Right, lets see where this one goes...**

Ch. 01

"Come on girl, you can't hide in here all night."

"Gee, and here I was thinking I'd have some say in what I do, given that it's my birthday."

"What about the party? All these people?"

The young blonde's jaw tightened as her teeth clenched, but other than that she didn't move from where she was, laying flat on her back staring at the ceiling with her hands behind her head. "What about them? Last I checked, the party and everyone invited was your idea. I told you I didn't want to have anything like this."

Ellie sighed in frustration. "Right, because staying in here and moping is so much better, isn't it?" No answer was given, and after an awkward silence she spun on her heels and marched out, closing the bedroom door behind her with more force than she'd meant to use. Her footsteps faded down the hall as the third occupant in the room spoke up.

"She's right, you know."

"Anna, not now. Please?"

Anna Wu got up from the chair and took a seat on the edge of the bed, dropping a hand onto her friend's leg and rubbing it gently. "I just wish you'd stop beating yourself up over what happened. It wasn't your fault."

Sam rolled onto her side and gazed at a photo frame sitting on her bedside cabinet, containing a photo from an earlier time. A happier time. Even after all this time she still felt the pain, although she'd long run out of tears. "Then why did he do it? Why'd he make it seem so easy?"

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because he was a rampaging idiot?" Sam chuckled, and Anna threw one arm around her shoulders in a quick hug as she sat up. "I mean sure, Cole might have had the whole foreign-accent-to-die-for thing working for him, but he broke up with you by sleeping with your best friend and then skipped the country when you found out. Doesn't sound too clever to me."

"I guess not." They sat side by side for a moment before Anna grabbed Sam by the hand and jumped to her feet.

"Come on, you aren't going to get over Barker by sitting here all night."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Right, because I've done so well with getting over it in the past."

"That's because you won't _let_ yourself get over it. Right outside this apartment there's a host of hot single doctors for us to choose from." Anna grinned at the expression on Sam's face. "What, you think I was going to let you have all the fun?"

Sam waved her hand towards the TV in a half hearted last ditch attempt to get out of it. "What about the movie we were watching?"

"Don't even try it. We can watch it any time. Besides, we've both seen it so often it's almost memorized anyway." She turned the TV off and dragged Sam towards the door. "C'mon girl, let's go have some fun!"

Carina scanned desperately through her contact list as she moved across the car park towards her vehicle. She knew that a pursuit team wouldn't be far away, and she couldn't be sure her exit strategy was secure. Given the amount of intel she had uploaded, and how deep the rot in her organization had set, the only way to be sure was to send the data straight away to the one person she knew for sure she would able to trust with it. Just as she found the name she was looking for, a shot cracked and she went down with a bullet in her chest. She stretched out with the last of her strength for the data module she was carrying as the clip of precise, well heeled footsteps drew closer and the street light above her was blocked out by the silhouette of someone standing over her with a gun.

"Nice try, Miller. You almost got away with it. Unfortunately in this business almost doesn't cut it."

Carina coughed, causing blood to speckle her lips, and she smiled weakly as she stabbed her finger down onto the touch pad. "How about near enough's good enough?" Her vision faded to black and the last thing she heard was the data module she had carried beep to confirm the transmission was sent before self destructing in a shower of sparks.

"See, what did I tell you?"

"Okay, I admit it, you were right... for once."

"Thank you so much. You remember that the next time you want to try and argue with me." Anna smiled, looking at her friend for a minute. "You know, that guy Jerry spent most of the night checking you out. I heard him make a few comments to his buddies about you."

"Yeah, and I can imagine what the comments were, too." Sam rolled her eyes. "He's not my type."

"Oh, so you have a type now? What exactly might this type of yours be?"

"I..." Sam's voice trailed off and she settled for a simple shrug. "I guess I'll know that when I find him."

Anna decided to leave it there. At least she'd managed to get Sam out of her room and mixing with others, which was a lot more than could be said for previous attempts. As the credits rolled up the screen, the familiar tones of Isaac Hayes could be heard, and a quick glance at the clock on the wall surprised her at just how late it had become.

"I'd better head for home." Ducking out through the bedroom window and into the main courtyard, she turned back briefly to see Sam sitting on the side of her bed, hugging her pillow with a distant smile on her face. "I'll see you at work, okay?"

Sam nodded and watched as Anna headed for her car before pulling the windows shut. She turned off the TV and started to get changed when a tone sounded from her computer, indicating she had mail. She saw Carina's name attached to the email and couldn't help but smile. Despite what had happened between them, they still kept in touch from time to time, and apparently Carina had remembered her birthday. She clicked on the icon with her mouse and her screen went blank apart from a text message that appeared.

_*And hope that he will duck next time, lest he become part of history, rather than a teacher of it.*_

It took Sam a minute before she figured it out, then she cracked her knuckles and typed quickly on the keyboard.

_*Robby Jackson Patriot Games*_

She straightened as the email opened, expecting a singing monkey or something similar, but instead was subjected to a sudden series of images being flashed on the screen. Try as she might she couldn't look away, and quickly lost all sense of time, location, or even herself as the multitude of pictures poured into her brain. Eventually the visual assault came to an end, and her eyes rolled back in her head as she fell, unconscious before she even hit the floor...


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Just wannted to start off by saying Thanks to all those who have read, and those that have left reviews. Much obliged. Now, where were we...? **

Ch. 02

"Sam, can you hear me? Sam!"

The urgency in her sister's voice finally broke through the fog in her mind, and her vision cleared a few seconds later.

"...El? whu append..."

Ellie looked down at her sister as she rolled flat on to her back and slowly began to stretch, trying to restore feeling to her limbs. She placed a hand first on Sam's forehead then her cheek, but neither showed any signs of a temperature, and Ellie sat back onto her heels as Sam pulled herself into a sitting position, leaning against the end of her bed.

"You gave us a heck of a fright is what happened. What's the last thing you remember?"

Sam rubbed a hand across her face. "Not too sure. We watched the end of the movie, and then Anna left. After that..." She shrugged. "It gets kind of foggy. Maybe I was just more tired than I realised."

Ellie frowned. "Are you sure that's all? Maybe you should come with me to the hospital. I can get Devon to take a look and make sure you're okay."

Sam held up a hand. "I'm feeling better already. Trust me, if it changes at all, you'll be the first to know." She would be the first to admit Devon was a decent guy, and it was obvious how happy he had made her sister. Unfortunately His Awesomeness (as she called him) was a bit much to handle at times, particularly first thing in the morning. It certainly wasn't her preferred way of starting the day. "Wait, why the hospital? I thought he was staying the night?"

"He was, but there was something of an accident." Ellie gestured towards the computer desk behind her, and Sam's eyes widened in distress as she realised her computer tower was no longer there. A sinking feeling came over her which her sister quickly confirmed. "When I came in there was some smoke coming out of the back of it. Not a lot, but enough to set off the alarm, so Devon took it with him to drop it into the repair shop before his shift starts."

Sam groaned and let her head fall back against the mattress. "I should have stayed unconscious."

Things were quieter than usual at the pharmacy where Sam and Anna worked together, a far cry from the dreams she had first had when she joined medical school of cutting edge research projects and battling viruses in a lab, fighting for cures to the world's ills. The usual run of colds and sniffles had run itself out for the season, and the mad rush of the last few days had faded. Sam was making the most of the opportunity to restock the shelves behind the counter when she heard Anna's voice from above her.

"Hmm, what's my name?"

Sam grinned, thinking back to the movie they'd watched the night of her birthday as she bobbed from side to side. "He's a complicated man, and no one understands him but his woman..." Looking up at her friend, she realised Anna's attention was on someone else, and she turned red as she heard a quiet "Ahem" from behind her. She rose to her feet and turned to see the young man standing on the other side of the counter with a cheeky smile on his face.

"I hope I'm not interrupting."

"No, not at all. That was... uh, that was from Shaft." She stammered. "Samuel Jackson. Great movie."

He nodded. "Well, that explains it. Always been more of a Denzel fan personally."

Anna cleared her throat. "Hi, I'm Anna, and this is Sam."

"I'm Charles Carmichael." He took her hand in his and gave it a quick shake before returning his gaze to Sam's face, and his smile grew. "Chuck, to my friends."

Sam could feel her heartbeat quicken as she looked into his eyes. "So, what can we do for you today... Chuck."

"Well it's nothing terribly exciting, I'm afraid." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper which he handed to her. "I have a prescription here for some cream I need."

She glanced down at the sheet and nodded. "That's fine, we have plenty in stock. It'll just be..." The form was snatched out of her hand and she looked up as Anna gave her a quick wink. "I'll take care of this. You're supposed to cover the register, _remember_?" Before a word of protest could form in Sam's mouth, Anna disappeared out the back to search through the supplies and left the two of them standing there in a brief silence.

"So, Sam huh?"

"Yeah, it's short for Samantha." She dropped her eyes and tucked a stray hair back behind her ear to hide her nervousness. "Personally I always thought it was because Dad was hoping for a son second time around."

"Well, no offence to your dad, but I'm kinda glad he didn't get his way on that one."

"**BARTOWSKI!" **The pair jumped as the manager approached and thrust a piece of paper into her hands. "Just got a call from North Hills, they need some urgent supplies. Get it picked and get it over there."

"Fine." She gave the list a quick scan. "Sorry, I'm really going to have to..." She looked up to see his gaze was directed at the front window, and there was a hard set to his features that made her breath catch in her throat. After a second or two of silence he swallowed and looked back at her, and the smile was back on his face like it had never left.

"That's okay, I didn't realise it was getting so late myself. I just remembered I have an appointment to see someone about a place."

"Of course." Sam turned to Anna and took the bag from her hands, placing it on the counter in front of him. "Well, here's your cream, and it's a refill so there's no charge on it."

"That's great, thanks for that." He lifted the bag and took a couple of steps back. "Until next time." Chuck turned and headed for the door, and Sarah stood there smiling, enjoying the view as she watched him walk away. As the door slid shut behind him Anna started singing.

"Some people like to say he's a bad mother-"

"Shut your mouth."

Chuck climbed into the waiting SUV and buckled in as it quickly pulled away from the parking spot. Once settled, he pulled the phone out of his pocket and hit the speed dial, and was quickly patched through.

"I've made first contact, but it looks pretty vanilla so far. Are you sure about the intel on this one?"

"As sure as we can be under the circumstances. Those files aren't exactly the kind of thing you send to your local Girl Scout leader." Graham paused. "I know this isn't easy for you Charles, but I need my best people on this one. We both know in this case that means you."

"Understood. I'll keep you posted. Carmichael out." He snapped the phone shut and turned to watch the view out the window when a voice came from behind him.

"You know, if we did this my way we could be on a plane back home tonight."

He didn't even turn. "Then let me refresh your memory. Her computer is toast, and thanks to your itchy trigger finger Miller's a corpse, so this 'Sam' is the only lead we have left. This may be a joint op, but 'your way' of doing things is what made them put me in charge in the first place. Do I really have to make it an order?"

Alex Forrest settled back into her seat, but he could almost feel the heat from her gaze boring into the back of his skull. "No. _Sir_."


End file.
